Gil Barden, of Barden Orchard in North Scituate, drives his apple carts by an old sugar maple, which is just starting to turn color. “The foliage is a couple of weeks later this year . . . because of all the late, hot weather we’ve had,” Barden says.

The Providence Journal / Bob Thayer

New England has seen more brilliant displays of foliage in recent years, with this summer’s lack of rain starving most plants of the water needed to transform the summer greens to golden yellows, bright oranges and deep reds.

But as weekenders returning from New Hampshire and Vermont can attest, not all hope is lost for leaf-peepers. Rhode Island’s peak foliage days won’t arrive for another week or so.

While the state’s leafy palette should be more muted this year, daytime temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s over the next several days will offer some assistance, as will recent rainfall that may help the colors pop a little more.

“As long as people realized that we had a drought and the trees look a little beat up, we still have a show worth seeing,” said Brian Maynard, professor of horticulture at the University of Rhode Island.

Several factors contribute to the spectacular array of fall colors that draws visitors from around the world to New England.

The change in color is determined by the presence and strength of several chemicals within the leaves.

Chlorophyll, which accounts for the green color of most leaves, rules in the summer when abundant sunshine fuels photosynthesis — in which plants mix sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into carbohydrates.

As the warm weather retreats, chlorophyll levels drop, allowing the chemical pigments that produce yellows, oranges, reds and purples and browns to show through.

Trees prepare for winter by cutting off water to the leaf stem where a build up of trapped sugar helps produce bright, vibrant colors as chlorophyll breaks down into simple forms of nitrogen and returns to the tree’s wood and bark.

When the plants don’t get enough water, it disrupts their natural functions, including the process of changing colors.

“The minute a plant starts to wilt, it shuts down,” Maynard said.

In places where water is not an issue such as swamps and wetlands, foliage is already coloring up fairly well, Maynard said. One of the best places to see the colors is the Great Swamp area in South Kingstown, he said.

Because of the lingering warm weather, color change has been spotty.

Red maples have already started their winter transition, while oaks have yet begun, said Paul Dolan, deputy chief of the state Department of Environmental Management’s Division of Forest Environment.

Other places to check up the colors now are the Reservoir Loop in Scituate, along Route 3 from Coventry to Hope Valley and the state parks, Dolan said.

So far the subdued colors have not kept visitors away, said Mark Brodeur, the director of operations for the Rhode Island tourism division. Hotels reported good numbers over the Columbus Day weekend, Brodeur said, and he anticipates visitors coming to see the fall colors to trail off by next month.

For up-to-date information on fall colors in New England, go to www.foliagenetwork.com.

ngarcia@projo.com